Modeling soil accretion and carbon accumulation in deltaic rice fields

Rice cultivation is popular in low-lying areas such as deltas, but climate change threatens the viability of the crop. In recent decades, the resilience of deltas to sea level rise (SLR) has been influenced by the reduction of sediment load from rivers due to the construction of dams, disrupting natural deposition in deltaic plains. Sediment and organic matter accumulation in wetlands are key to vertical accretion in the face of SLR and soil organic carbon (SOC) sequestration. In this sense, deltaic rice fields can retain sediments as well as wetlands and promote SOC sequestration, which is effective in adapting to SLR. In the Ebro Delta, the sediments that reached the fields through irrigation channels were used to build up and form rice fields in the wetlands of the area. We hypothesize that this sedimentation has been key to vertical accretion and SOC sequestration in rice fields. These processes were simulated by developing a process-based cohort model inspired by accretion in marsh equilibrium models (MEM). The model was able to simulate the soil carbon profile of rice fields in the Ebro Delta, based on the soil-accretion concept and considering the spatial heterogeneity of the area. Its predictions of vertical accretion and carbon content were more accurate for mineral and clay-like soils than for organic and sandy soils. Topsoil decomposition rate and organic matter content were the parameters that most influenced predictions of total vertical accretion and final soil organic carbon stock. Simulations were carried out according to future climate change scenarios, considering restoration of river sediment flux, to evaluate effects on SOC sequestration and vertical accretion in rice fields. Results showed that only with significant river sediment restoration did rice fields show positive vertical accretion, which facilitates SOC sequestration.